Here’s the general rule of thumb when employees receive tips. They get to keep them. As Jon Hyman pointed out in his blog post yesterday at the Ohio Employer Law Blog, there are certain exceptions to that rule, none of which involves sharing employee tips with managers and supervisors. A bunch…
The Employer Handbook Blog
The Employer Handbook Friday Zoom Happy Hour Returns on September 30, 2022 at Noon ET
With Summer winding down, it’s time to knock the dust off my Zoom Pro account, pour a beverage, and bring back The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour. Most of you know the drill. But I’ll explain for the newer subscribers. On Fridays, often flanked by a FisherBroyles partner or another…
Is a request to transfer away from a supervisor antagonist a reasonable accommodation?
Imagine a situation that, well, won’t be too hard to imagine. One of your employees gets a new supervisor, and things don’t seem to be working out. The employee complains that the new supervisor scheduled her to work the closing shift even though it conflicted with her ability to provide…
Could an anonymous complaint about COVID-19 spawn a sex-based retaliation claim?
Winning a retaliation lawsuit against an employer isn’t easy. The plaintiff-employee must prove three elements: she engaged in a protected activity; the defendant-employer took an employment action adverse to the plaintiff; and there was a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse employment action. A journalist at a…
If a cyber-attack at work creates imminent risk of identity theft or fraud, your employees can sue you!
Think of all the personal, sensitive information that an individual shares with you just to have the opportunity to earn a living as an employee of your company. As part of onboarding, new employees provide their home address, social security number, bank and financial account numbers for direct deposit, insurance…
How did a plaintiff with no lawyer convince a federal appellate court that he had a viable FMLA claim?
The surprise will quickly disappear once I share the facts from this recent Third Circuit decision. The plaintiff was a patient representative with a local hospital. On January 3, 2014, he reported to work amid a snowstorm. After his shift ended, the plaintiff slipped and fell while searching for a…
New Jersey finally offers clear guidance on cannabis testing to local employers. And by “clear,” I mean “hazy.”
Like saying, “It depends,” you can count on a lawyer blogging about cannabis and employment law to drop a marijuana pun in the title of the post. Legal recreational cannabis and its impact at work. In early 2021, New Jersey legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older when Governor…
If you’re new to HR, check out this new EEOC pregnancy and pregnancy-related disability discrimination resource
Credit: Office of Commissioner Andrea R. Lucas Late last week, as I enjoyed the FisherBroyles partner retreat (responsibly-ish) in Nashville, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a new resource on pregnancy discrimination. Spoiler alert: The Dallas Cowboys won’t make the playoffs this season resource doesn’t contain any game-changing new…
The customer isn’t always right — especially when they are OUTRIGHT RACIST!!!
Jerk employees are responsible for creating most of the hostile work environment claims I get hired to defend. But companies must act quickly to prevent workplace discrimination, regardless of the source. A new lawsuit that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission just filed serves as a good reminder for employers.…
The joint-employer rules are changing again at the National Labor Relations Board
Selfishly, a professional perk of a changing White House administration is the business that follows from counseling clients on the new rules when administrative agencies change their rules. For example, as a holdover from the Trump Administration, the Republican majority at the National Labor Relations Board implemented a new joint-employer rule.…